Atomic Structure

Question 1

What is a mass spectrometer?

Answer 1

Gives you information about the relative atomic mass of an element and the relative abundance of its isotopes.

Question 2

What are the different steps of mass spectroscepy?

Answer 2

1.Ionisation
2.Acceleration
3.Ion drift
4.Detection

Question 3

What are the two types of ionisation?

Answer 3

1.Electrospray ionisation
the sample is dissolved in a volatile solvent and pushed through a small nozzle at high pressure. A high voltage is applied to it causing each particle to gain a h+ ion. the solvent is then removed

2.Electron impact
the sample is vaporised and an electron gun is used to fire high energy electrons at it, this knocks one electron off each particle so they become +1 ions.

Question 4

What is ionisation energy?

Answer 4

The energy need to remove 1 electron from each atom in 1 mole of gaseous atoms to form 1 mole of gaseous 1+ ions.

Question 5

What factors affect ionisation energy?

Answer 5

1.Nuclear Charge
-more protons the more positively charge the nucleus is and the stronger the attraction to outer electrons
2. Distance from nucleus
- Attraction falls off very rapidly with distance
3. Shielding
- Number of electrons between outer shell and nucleus